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Avatar: a celebration of mother nature
James Cameron on the main themes of his latest film extraordinaire - a reflection of his own "eco morals"
It seems humans may have to travel far away to learn an invaluable lesson about nature.
How far? To a fictional planet called Pandora according to James Cameron’s latest film, Avatar.
The film, which reportedly took twelve years to be made, touches on many themes though, not just stopping at tree worshipping.
Mother nature and respect for the environment are the two obvious ones, but the film also touches on colonialism, American imperialism and the dangers of technology to name but a few others.
The following is a selection of comments made by James Cameron, the writer and director on his film, which he intended as a sort of green parable.
On the environmental situation: James Cameron: “We’re not going to be able to just rip our clothes off and run back into the wilderness. First of all, there’s no wilderness left. Second of all, that’s not going to work for 8 billion people.
On technology versus nature: “The film espouses a kind of love-hate relationship with technology. The film uses technology to tell the story that is a celebration of nature, which is an irony in and of itself. But, I think that it’s not that technology is bad, it’s not that a technological civilization is bad, it’s that we need to be in control of the technological process.”
On the future: “We’re going to need to be human about it, get in touch with our emotions and with our understanding of each other. Part of the themes of the film, I think, is symbolised by the fact that it begins and ends with the [main] character’s eyes opening. It’s about a change of perception and about choices that are made once that perception has been changed.”
On colonialism: “I have taken the thread back to the 17th and 16th Centuries, and how the Europeans displaced indigenous people from the Americas. I think there’s a lot of the wonderful history of the human race written in blood.”
On modern imperialism: “There’s a sense of entitlement. We’re here, we’re big, we’ve got the guns, the brains, therefore we’re entitled to do every damn thing on this planet and that’s not how it works. And we’re going to learn that the hard way, unless we wise up and start seeking a life that’s in balance with the natural cycles of life on earth.”
